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Trends in the supply of dentists in North Carolina, 1996-2005

Trends in the supply of dentists in North Carolina, 1996-2005 - Page 1

There were 3,772 dentists in active practice in North Carolina as of October 2005. Given North Carolina’s rapidly
increasing population, a more meaningful indicator of supply is the ratio of dentists to population. In 2005, there
were 4.4 dentists per 10,000 population in the state. Relative to population size, Orange County had the most
dentists with 11.8 per 10,000 population ( Figure 1). Gates County lost its sole dentist in 2005 and Camden, Hyde,
and Tyrell have had no active dentists since 1989.
Comparisons to national benchmarks provide another metric by which to measure North Carolina’s supply. Due to
differences in national and state data sources and methodologies, comparisons between specific yearly United
States ( US) and North Carolina practitioner- to- population ratios should be interpreted with caution, however,
overall trends are worth noting. Historically, North Carolina’s supply of dentists has fallen short of the national
average ( Figure 2). National data for 2005 are not yet available, but it appears that in recent years North
Carolina’s supply of dentists relative to population has grown while the US average has declined slightly. North
Carolina’s dentist- per- 10,000 population ratio increased from 4.0 in 2000 to 4.2 in 2004, while the US ratio
decreased from 6.1 in 2000 to 6.0 in 2004. Perhaps the most striking finding is that while North Carolina’s annual
increase in dentists per 10,000 population averaged less than 0.5% in the ten years preceding 2003, between
2003 and 2004 supply increased by 3.9%, and between 2004 and 2005 it increased by 2.8%. These are large
increases given past trends and may be due in part due to a change in legislation in 2003 that enabled out- of- state
dentists to become licensed by credential ( see Figure 4, pg. 3).
Figure 1: Dentists per 10,000 Population, 2005
Dentists per 10,000 Population
(# of Counties)
4.08 to 11.84 ( 24)
2.82 to 4.07 ( 24)
2.05 to 2.81 ( 24)
0.01 to 2.04 ( 24)
No Active Dentists ( 4)
Workforce Supply
North Carolina Health Professions Data System, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 7590, 725 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27599- 7590
http:// www. shepscenter. unc. edu/ hp nchp@ unc. edu ( 919) 966- 7112
February 2007

There were 3,772 dentists in active practice in North Carolina as of October 2005. Given North Carolina’s rapidly
increasing population, a more meaningful indicator of supply is the ratio of dentists to population. In 2005, there
were 4.4 dentists per 10,000 population in the state. Relative to population size, Orange County had the most
dentists with 11.8 per 10,000 population ( Figure 1). Gates County lost its sole dentist in 2005 and Camden, Hyde,
and Tyrell have had no active dentists since 1989.
Comparisons to national benchmarks provide another metric by which to measure North Carolina’s supply. Due to
differences in national and state data sources and methodologies, comparisons between specific yearly United
States ( US) and North Carolina practitioner- to- population ratios should be interpreted with caution, however,
overall trends are worth noting. Historically, North Carolina’s supply of dentists has fallen short of the national
average ( Figure 2). National data for 2005 are not yet available, but it appears that in recent years North
Carolina’s supply of dentists relative to population has grown while the US average has declined slightly. North
Carolina’s dentist- per- 10,000 population ratio increased from 4.0 in 2000 to 4.2 in 2004, while the US ratio
decreased from 6.1 in 2000 to 6.0 in 2004. Perhaps the most striking finding is that while North Carolina’s annual
increase in dentists per 10,000 population averaged less than 0.5% in the ten years preceding 2003, between
2003 and 2004 supply increased by 3.9%, and between 2004 and 2005 it increased by 2.8%. These are large
increases given past trends and may be due in part due to a change in legislation in 2003 that enabled out- of- state
dentists to become licensed by credential ( see Figure 4, pg. 3).
Figure 1: Dentists per 10,000 Population, 2005
Dentists per 10,000 Population
(# of Counties)
4.08 to 11.84 ( 24)
2.82 to 4.07 ( 24)
2.05 to 2.81 ( 24)
0.01 to 2.04 ( 24)
No Active Dentists ( 4)
Workforce Supply
North Carolina Health Professions Data System, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 7590, 725 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27599- 7590
http:// www. shepscenter. unc. edu/ hp nchp@ unc. edu ( 919) 966- 7112
February 2007